The training camp is called a “sich,” which is also the administrative and military center for Cossacks. It comes from the Ukrainian word siktý meaning “to chop,” as in to clear a forest for an encampment.

Cossack communities are tight-knit. Most live in large clans of extended family led by an elder patriarch with the title Ataman/Hetman. Cossacks use the same title for the head of their military and the leader of the camp.

In Russia, however, Cossacks have the status of a state-backed militia (which is how they have operated during the Crimean crisis). The fact that the group got better treatment in Russia spurred many Cossacks to help bring Crimea under Russian control.